The start of our trek into Cat Cat Village
Getting off the train in Lao Cai Station
We made it to Sapa via the overnight train from Hanoi. The trip ended up being a little longer than 8 hours but we were both able to get some sleep on the train. One big surprise was the extremely poor shape of the Hanoi train station. Everyone had to crawl over tracks and rubble to get to the train. Just kinda surprised to see such a major station in such rough shape.
At this point in the trip we've taken every form of transportation we can think of; plane, car, scooter, bike, tuk tuk, train, small boats, kayak, bus, subway, and ostrich. I don't think there is anything left other than the elephant we missed out on in Cambodia.
Climbing to the top
The train from Hanoi drops you off at Lao Cai. From there you need to take a taxi to Sapa. This is about an hour ride, and all up hill. You just keep on climbing until you get to the mountain village of Sapa. We are staying at the Cat Cat View Hotel since it is run by friends of our friends and is a very nice place. We found the hotel with no trouble.
Food at the Sunday market.
We got to the hotel a little early so we explored the Sunday market in the city center. We got some good street good here, banh bao and xoi. After exploring we went to the hotel for a bit of rest.
Hmong boy looking out into the valley
In the afternoon we went for a short (2 hours) trek down to the Car Cat Village. This was a great walk where we got to take in some of the picturesque sites and explore a small village of the Black Hmong people. This region of Vietnam has large populations of ethnic minorities and the Hmong are one of these groups.
Dinner at The Hill Station
After our trek we ate dinner at The Hill Station. this resturaunt is right across from our hotel and has great food. We got to try local Hmong food here and we really loved it. We also tried some locally made rice and corn wine since it is a big part of the local culture.
Tomorrow we go on a much longer trek to see some more of the villages and scenery.
At the river in Cat Cat Village
A small waterfall in Cat Cat Village